DOCSLIB.ORG

Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei (1632)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei (1632) Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei (1632) Cover Page Translated by Stillman Drake Annotated and Condensed by S. E. Sciortino The open-minded and lettered Sagredo in Galileo's dialogue was a close friend of the scientist. Salviati represents the views of Galileo himself. Simplicio, the philosopher, is a fictitious straw man. Links: Second Day Third Day Fourth Day TO THE DISCERNING READER Several years ago there was published in Rome a salutary edict which, in order to obviate the dangerous tendencies of our present age, imposed a seasonable silence upon the Pythagorean opinion that the earth moves There were those who impudently asserted that this decree had its origin not injudicious inquire, but in passion none too well informed Complaints were to be heard that advisers who were totally unskilled at astronomical observations ought not to clip the wings of reflective intellects by means of rash prohibitions. Upon hearing such carping insolence, my zeal could not be contained. Being thoroughly informed about that prudent determination, I decided to appear openly in the theater of the world as a witness of the sober truth. I was at that time in Rome; I was not only received by the most eminent prelates of that Court, but had their applause; indeed this decree was not published without some previous notice of it having been given to me. Therefore I propose in the present work to show to foreign nations that as much is understood of this matter in Italy, and particularly in Rome, as transalpine diligence can ever have imagined Collecting all the reflections that properly concern the Copernican system, I shall make it known that everything was brought before the attention of the Roman censorship, and that there proceed from this clime not only dogmas for the welfare of the soul, but ingenious discoveries for the delight of the mind as well. To this end I have taken the Copernican side in the discourse, proceeding as with a pure mathematical hypothesis and striving by every artipee to represent it as superior to supposing the earth motionless–not, indeed absolutely, but as against the arguments of some professed Peripatetics. These men indeed deserve not even that name, for they do not walk about; they are content to adore the shadows, philosophizing not with due circumspection but merely from having memorized a few ill-understood principles. Three principal headings are treated First, I shall try to show that all experiments practicable upon the earth are insufficient measures for proving its mobility, since they are indiferently adaptable to an earth in motion or at rest. I hope in so doing to reveal many observations unknown to the ancients. Secondly, the celestial phenomena will be examined strengthening the Copernican hypothesis until it might seem that this must triumph absolutely. Here new reflections are adjoined which might be used in order to simplfy astronomy, though not because of any necessity imported by nature. In the third place, I shall propose an ingenious speculation. It happens that long ago I said that the unsolved problem of the ocean tides might receive some light from assuming the motion of the earth. This assertion of mine, passing by word of mouth, found loving fathers who adopted it as a child of their own ingenuity. Now, so that no stranger may ever a who, arming himself with our weapons, shall charge us with want of attention to such an important matter, I have thought it good to reveal those probabilities which might render this plausible, given that the earth moves. I hope that from these considerations the world will come to know that if other nations have navigated more, we have not theorized less. It is not from failing to take count of what others have thought that we have yielded to asserting that the earth is motionless, and holding the contrary to be a mere mathematical caprice, but (if for nothing else) for those reasons that are supplied by piety, religion, the knowledge of Divine Omnipotence, and a consciousness of the limitations of the human mind I have thought it most appropriate to explain these concepts in the form of dialogues, which, no! being restricted to the rigorous observance of mathematical laws, make room also for digressions which are sometimes no less interesting than the principal argument. Many years ago I was often to be found in the marvelous city of Venice, in discussions with Signore Giovanni Francesco Sagredo, a man of noble extraction and trenchant wit. Prom Florence came Signore Filippo Salviati, the least of whose glories were the eminence of his blood and the magnificence of his fortune. His was a sublime intellect which fed no more hungrily upon any pleasure than it did upon fine meditations. I often talked with these two of such matters in the presence of a certain Peripatetic philosopher whose greatest obstacle in apprehending the truth seemed to be the reputation he had acquired by his interpretations of Aristotle. Now, since bitter death has deprived Venice and Florence of those two great luminaries in the very meridian of their years, I have resolved to make their fame live on in these pages, so far as my poor abilities will permit, by introducing them as interlocutors in the present argument. (Nor shall the good Peripatetic lack a place; because of his excessive affection toward the Commentaries of Simplicius,I have thought fit to leave him under the name of the author he so much revered, without mentioning his own) May it please those two great souls, ever venerable to my heart, to accept this public monument of my undying love. And may the memory of their eloquence assist me in delivering to posterity the promised reflections. It happened that several discussions had taken place casually at various times among these gentlemen, and had rather whetted than satisfied their thirst for learning. Hence very wisely they resolved to meet together on certain days during which, setting aside all other business, they might apply themselves more methodically to the contemplation of the wonders of God in the heavens and upon the earth. They met in the palace of the illustrious Sagredo; and, after the customary but brief exchange of compliments, Saiviati commenced as follows. THE FIRST DAY INTERLOCUTORS SALVIATI, SAGRFDO, AND SIIMPLICIO SALVIATI. Yesterday we resolved to meet today and discuss as clearly and in as much detail as possible the character and the efficacy of those laws of nature which up to the present have been put forth by the partisans of the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic position on the one hand, and by the followers of the Copemican system on the other. Since Copernicus places the earth among the movable heavenly bodies, making it a globe like a planet, we may well begin our discussion by examining the Peripatetic steps in arguing the impossibility of that hypothesis; what they are, and how great is their force and effect. For this it is necessary to introduce into nature two substances which differ essentially. These are the celestial and the elemental, the former being invariant and eternalo the latter, temporary and destructible. This argument Aristotle treats in his book De Caelo, introducing it with some discourses dependent upon certain general assumptions, and afterwards confirming it by experiments and specific demonstrations. Following the same method, I shall first propound, and then freely speak my opinion, submitting myself to your criticisms -- particularly those of Simplicio, that stout champion and defender of Aristotelian doctrines. The first step in the Peripatetic arguments is Aristotle's proof of the completeness and perfection of the world. For, he tells us, it is not a mere line, nor a bare surface, but a body having length, breadth, and depth. Since there are only these three dimensions, the world, having these, has them all, and, having the Whole, is perfect. To be sure, I much wish that Aristotle had proved to me by rigorous deductions that simple length constitutes the dimension which we call a line, which by the addition of breadth becomes a surface; that by further adding altitude or depth to this there results a body, and that after these three dimensions there is no passing farther, so that by these three alone, completeness, or, so to speak, wholeness is concluded. Especially since he might have done so very plainly and speedily. SIMP. What about the elegant demonstrations in the second, third, and fourth texts, after the definition of "continuous"? Is it not there first proved that there are no more than three dimensions, since Three is everything, and everywhere? And is this not confirmed by the doctrine and authority of the Pythagoreans, who say that all things are determined by three -- beginning, middle, and end -- which is the number of the Whole? Also, why leave out another of his reasons; namely, that this number is used, as if by a law of nature, in sacrifices to the gods? Furthermore, is it not dictated by nature that we attribute the title of "all" to those things that are three, and not less? For two are called "both," and one does not say "all" unless there are three. You have all this doctrine in the second text. Afterwards, in the third we read, for greater knowledge that All, and Whole, and Perfect are formally one and the same; and that therefore among figures only the solid is complete. For it alone is determined by three, which is All; and, being divisible in three ways, it is divisible in every possible way. Of the other figures, one is divisible in one way, and the other in two, because they have their divisibility and their continuity according to the number of dimensions allotted to them.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Galileo in Rome Galileo in Rome
    Galileo in Rome Galileo in Rome The Rise and Fall of a Troublesome Genius William R. Shea and Mariano Artigas Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Copyright © 2003 by Oxford University Press, Inc. First published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 2003 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 2004 ISBN 0-19-517758-4 (pbk) Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. The Library of Congress has catalogued the cloth edition as follows: Artigas, Mariano. Galileo in Rome : the rise and fall of a troublesome genius / Mariano Artigas and William R. Shea. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-516598-5 1. Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642—Journeys—Italy—Rome. 2. Religion and science—History—16th century. 3. Astronomers—Italy—Biography. I. Shea, William R. II. Title. QB36.G2 A69 2003 520'.92—dc21 2003004247 Book design by planettheo.com 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper CONTENTS ACKNO W L E D G E M E N T S vii I N TRO D U C TIO N ix CHA P TER O N E Job Hunting and the Path
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
    1 Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Introduction The playwright Bertolt Brecht labored for two decades over his anti–Third Reich play Leben des Galilei. The seventh scene is set on March 5, 1616, just as the Inquisition has censured the Coper­ nican texts positing the heliocentric model of the universe. Galileo learns of this event during a conversation with several cardinals at a dinner party in Rome. Brecht dramatically captures the heart of Galileo’s religious faith: Barberini: He’s [i.e., Galileo is] really dreadful. In all innocence he accuses God of the juiciest boners in astronomy! I suppose God didn’t work hard enough at His astronomy before He wrote Holy Scripture? My dear friend! Bellarmine: Don’t you think it likely that the Creator knows more about His creation than any of His creatures? Galileo: But, gentlemen, after all we can misinterpret not only the movements of the heavenly bodies, but the Bible as well. 4 - CHAPTER 1 Bellarmine: But wouldn’t you say that after all the interpreta­ tion of the Bible is the business of the Holy Church? (Galileo is silent.)1 Galileo is silent because in fact he believes that the business of biblical interpretation, in the hands of fallible humans, can prove to be highly fallible. He is silent because he does not believe the Bible is meant to be read literally, and biblical literalism has been hardening into a new position within some circles of the Counter- reformation Catholic Church following the Council of Trent. Far from being a biblical literalist, Galileo believed that the Bible was intentionally simplified by the Church so that lay people could access its meaning.
    [Show full text]
  • Galileo Galilei, Various Writings1
    1 Primary Source 8.4 GALILEO GALILEI, VARIOUS WRITINGS1 Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) was an Italian scientist who, having improved the telescope, perceived the mountains of the Moon, sunspots, the stars of the Milky Way, and four moons of Jupiter (the first planetary satellite discovered since prehistoric times) and confirmed the phases of Venus—much of which undermined the Aristotelian conception of an incorruptible and perfect celestial realm. Galileo’s discoveries inspired him to embrace the Copernican heliocentric system. The Roman Inquisition investigated his assertions and writings in 1616 and concluded that the Copernican theory could be propounded as a hypothesis but not as established fact. In 1632, after his friend and staunch supporter, Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, became Pope Urban VIII, he publicly, though in a rather veiled way, advocated heliocentrism in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which seemed to ridicule the pope. The Inquisition found him “suspect of heresy,” demanded his repudiation of the heliocentric theory, and placed him under house arrest in his Tuscan villa for the rest of his life. He then went on to conduct experiments in physics and to publish important works on kinematics. For the text online, click here. TO KEPLER (1597)2 I count myself happy, in the search after truth, to have so great an ally as yourself, and one who is so great a friend of the truth itself. It is really pitiful that there are so few who seek truth, and who do not pursue a perverse method of philosophizing. But this is not the place to mourn over the miseries of our times, but to congratulate you on your splendid discoveries in conformation of truth.
    [Show full text]
  • Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei (1632)
    Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei (1632) Cover Page Translated by Stillman Drake Annotated and Condensed by S. E. Sciortino The open-minded and lettered Sagredo in Galileo's dialogue was a close friend of the scientist. Salviati represents the views of Galileo himself. Simplicio, the philosopher, is a fictitious straw man. Links: Second Day Third Day Fourth Day TO THE DISCERNING READER Several years ago there was published in Rome a salutary edict which, in order to obviaie the dangerous tendencies of our present age, imposed a seasonable silence upon the Pythagorean opinion that the earth moves There were those who impudently asserted that this decree had its origin not injudicious inquire, but in passion none too well informed Complaints were to be heard that advisers who were totally unskilled at astronomical observations ought not to clip the wings of reflective intellects by means of rash prohibitions. Upon hearing such carping insolence, my eal could not be contained Being thoroughly informed about that prudent determination, I decided to appear openly in the theater of the world as a witness of the sober truth. I was at that time in Rome; I was not only received by the most eminent prelates of that Court, but had their applause; indeed this decree was not published without some previous notice of it having been given to me. Therefore I propose in the present work to show to foreign nations that as much is understood of this matter in Italy, and pariicularly in Rome, as transalpine diligence can ever have imagined Collecting all the reflections thai properly concern the Copernican system, I shall make it known that everything was brought before the attention of the Roman censorship, and that there proceed from this clime not only dogmas for the welfare of the soul, but ingenious discoveries for the delight of the mind as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Exchange, Brokerage Networks, and Social Representation in Early Mode
    Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/32883 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation. Author: Goudriaan, Elisa Johanna Title: The cultural importance of Florentine patricians. Cultural exchange, brokerage networks, and social representation in early modern Florence and Rome (1600-1660) Issue Date: 2015-04-30 Brokerage activities of Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger 233 5 The brokerage activities of Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger and the exchange of cultural gifts Introduction Quando sarò alla sua villa di Settignano le renderò conto per la minuta del viaggio di Napoli della corte et di quanto mi è occorso in quel tempo che sarò stato fuora di Fiorenza città veramente bellissima...972 This is what the painter Cosimo Gamberucci (fig. 14) wrote to Michelan- gelo Buonarroti the Younger (fig. 1) in July 1606 while residing at the court of Cardinal Acquaviva in Naples.973 The fact that he wanted to visit Buonarroti in his villa on the countryside indicates the good personal relationship the patrician Buonarroti had with this artist. Buonarroti’s strong relationship with 972 Gamberucci to Buonarroti, 28 July 1606, A.B. 48, no. 944 (see appendix). Also transcribed by Cole 2011: p. 485. 973 This is Cardinal Ottavio Acquaviva the Elder (1560-1612), nominated as Archbishop of Naples by the Medici-Pope Leo XI in 1605. Acquaviva solved the famine of 1607 and revived convent life. See Knight 2012; Metzler 2004: 67. 234 Chapter Five Gamberucci and other artists (see also the section about his art patronage in the third chapter) was one of the most attractive aspects of his network for higher patrons.
    [Show full text]
  • Remarkable Physicists from Galileo to Yukawa
    Remarkable Physicists From Galileo to Yukawa Ioan James Mathematical Institute, Oxford published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011–4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon´ 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org C Ioan James 2004 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2004 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge Typeface Trump Mediaeval 9.25/13.5 pt. System LATEX2ε [tb] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data James, I. M. (Ioan Mackenzie), 1928– Remarkable physicists: from Galileo to Yukawa / by Ioan James. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 816874–ISBN 0 521 01706 8 (pb.) 1. Physicists – Biography. 2. Physics – History. I. Title. QC15.J36 2003 530.0922–dc21 [B] 2003055423 ISBN 0 521 81687 4 hardback ISBN 0 521 01706 8 paperback Contents Preface page ix Prologue xi 1 From Galileo to Daniel Bernoulli 1 Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) 1 Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) 8 Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) 16
    [Show full text]
  • How They Make Me Suffer
    How they make me suffer... A short biography of Galileo Galilei Sara Bonechi How they make me suffer… A short biography of Galileo Galilei Sara Bonechi Translated by Anna Teicher Florence, 2008 This publication forms part of the Web Application Scientific Itineraries in Tuscany produced by the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence, and promoted by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs - Department of Libraries and Cultural Institutes, by the Central Institute for the Unified Catalogue of Italian Libraries and for Bibliographic Data (ICCU) and by the Region of Tuscany – Department of Cultural Affairs. The Application may be consulted at the address: http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/itineraries/ This text is available in PDF format at the site of the Application. How they make me suffer, those who go in search of the highest good, but have so far failed to find it, because, my brain tells me, it is not in the place where they are seeking. (Galileo, Against wearing the Gown) INDEX Birth and early life and education (1564-1580) 11 In 1564 Galileo was born in Pisa, where his schooling began. In 1574 he began to study in Florence with the Vallombrosan monks, but was taken away by his father before he had completed his course of study. University studies (1580-1589) 15 In 1580 Galileo enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine and Philosophy at the Studio of Pisa (the University), but, strongly attracted to the study of geometry and disappointed with the academic milieu, he failed to complete the course. He began a deeper study of Archimedes’ work, which offered him a methodological basis opposed to the dominant Aristotelian philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • Galileo's Discovery of Scaling Laws
    Galileo’s Discovery of Scaling Laws Mark A. Peterson Department of Physics, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075 Galileo’s realization that nature is not scale invariant motivated his sub- sequent discovery of scaling laws. His thinking is traced to two lectures he gave on the geography of Dante’s Inferno. I. INTRODUCTION Galileo’s last book was the Two New Sciences,1 a dialogue in four days. The third and fourth days describe his solution to the longstanding problem of projectile motion, a result of obvious importance and the birth of physics as we know it. But this was only the second of his two new sciences. What was the first one? Two New Sciences begins in the Venetian Arsenal, the shipyard of the Republic of Venice, with a discussion of the effect of scaling up or scaling down in practical construction projects, like shipbuilding. The discussants include two of Galileo’s closest friends, Giovanni Francesco Sagredo and Filippo Salviati, and an Aristotelian philosopher Simplicio, who is perhaps Galileo’s friend and sometime adversary Cesare Cremonini, although he is never identified by his real name. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that these three men actually met in life, as Sagredo was a nobleman of Venice, Cremonini was professor of philosophy at Padua, and Salviati, a nobleman of Florence and patron of Galileo, may have been Galileo’s student at Padua. The dialogue form is not intended to represent a real meeting, but rather to provide a framework for developing ideas in a lively, engaging way. The conversation on the First Day wanders into a dazzling variety of topics, but on the Second Day, following this daylong digression, it returns to a serious analysis of scaling, especially in the context of the strength of materials.
    [Show full text]
  • Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems”
    Galileo Galilei “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” ANNO 1632 As compiled and edited by: Robert C. Kuhmann, June 3rd 2006. Released into the Public Domain. The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo) was Galileo's comparison of the Copernican system, in which the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun, with the traditional Ptolemaic system, in which everything in the Universe circles around the Earth. The book was published in Florence in 1632 under a formal license from the Inquisition. In 1633 Galileo was convicted of "grave suspicion of heresy" based on the book, which was then placed on the Index of forbidden books, from which it was not removed until 1822. In an action that was not announced at the time, the publication of anything else he had written or ever might write was also banned. While writing the book, Galileo referred to it as his Dialogue on the Tides; and this was its title when the manuscript went to the Inquisition for approval: Dialogue on the Ebb and Flow of the Sea. He was ordered to remove all mention of tides from the title and to change the preface, because granting approval to such a title would look like approval of his theory of the tides, which attempted to prove the motion of the Earth physically. As a result, the formal title on the title page is Dialogue, which is followed by Galileo's name and academic posts, followed by a long subtitle. The name by which the work is now known is extracted from deep within the subtitle.
    [Show full text]
  • IA Annual Report 05 06 Final.Pdf
    The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America at Columbia University Annual Report 2005–2006 new york 2006 Contents Board of Guarantors 9 Senior Fellows 11 Staff 12 Director’s Report 13 Fellows’ Reports 23 Winners of the Premio New York 63 Description of Programs 69 fellowship program premio new york Activities of the Academy 73 fellows’ seminars film series concert series “italy at columbia” lecture series forum on art and the new biology of mind exhibitions the mission of the italian academy ounded in 1991 on the basis of an and society; presents distinguished exam- agreement between the Republic of ples of Italian culture and art; and pro- FItaly and Columbia University, the motes academic, cultural and scientific Academy sponsors advanced research in exchange at the highest level. all areas relating to Italian history, science about the academy t the core of the Italian Academy’s prestige and its location in New York, the work lies its Fellowship Program. Academy has also become a critical site AFellowships are open to senior for meetings between distinguished mem- scholars at the post-doctoral level and bers of the Italian and American business above who wish to devote a semester or a and political communities. Its theater, full academic year to genuinely innovative library, and other public spaces offer work in any field relating to culture, cul- important locations for a variety of con- tural memory, and the relations between certs, exhibitions and films reflecting the culture, the sciences, and the social sci- finest aspects of cultural relations ences. The most advanced part of the Fel- between the Republic of Italy and the lowship Program is the Academy’s ongo- artistic and academic communities of ing Project in Art and the Neurosciences, New York and the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Section: Annunziata Branch – Registers
    Section: Annunziata Branch – Registers The Registers of the Guadagni Administration of the Annunziata Branch were reorganized by Francesco Casini, during his work on the patrimonial papers of the family, entrusted to him by Niccolo’ Guadagni (1730-1805), son of Ottavio, and finished with the compilation of the Inventory in 1769. Unfortunately we have not found the list of these registers, which Casini must have surely compiled, and which would have explained the shelf mark he allocated them; an alphanumeric shelf mark completing the one assigned to the strings of the loose papers and envelopes containing the administration books of the farms. Letter “B” was allocated to the family members, starting from the children of Simone Guadagni (1411-1480), son of Vieri and Ginevra Castellani, including the ones who will start the “Dell’Opera” Branch, whose founder was Filippo Guadagni (1504-1556), son of Jacopo. Guadagni dell’Opera Palace with Family Crest: now Region of Tuscany Palace The numeration of the “B” letter registers starts fron # 35, because the preceding numbers had been utilised for some farms, and ends with # 133, with the books of Tommaso (1582-1652), son of Francesco. The “C” letter instead has been used for the books of Tommaso’s wife, Maria Acciaioli, daughter of Donato, for her sons Francesco, Pierantonio and Vieri, for her grandsons, Enea Silvio, Ottavio and Ascanio, sons of Pierantonio, and only for her great-grandson Pierantonio, son of Ottavio. The books of the other great-grandson Niccolo’ have a simple numeration on printed cards, like those of his mother, Cammilla del Ruota, daughter of Niccolo’.
    [Show full text]